We wrapped up 2023 with a list of standout spots that responded to national trends, with Italian menus and steakhouses dominating the dining scene. As we touch base halfway through 2024, our list of Brisbane’s best openings is far more diverse; from spots serving snacky Italian small plates to another offering punchy southern Thai cuisine, Petite and Rose & Crown respectively epitomise French and British cuisine, while other pan-Asian and produce-driven spots refuse to be pigeonholed into just one form of fare.

Here, in alphabetical order, are the new restaurants, bars and pubs in Brisbane that have caught our eye so far this year.

The sibling spot for Ramona Trattoria was born out of necessity. When people would arrive early for their Ramona reservations, there was nowhere for them to sit, so they turned the next-door space into a casual bar and diner. You can stop in for a pre-dinner aperitivo or make Bar Rocco the main event. The wine list is extensive, and the star of the signature cocktail list is a festive panettone-inspired Negroni. Much of the menu comes courtesy of the woodfired grill dishing out saucy Skull Island prawns with capers, herbs and lemons; charred focaccia with whipped ricotta; and pizzettas with toppings such as mortadella with pistachio and stracciatella, or ’nduja with honey and mascarpone. Other snacks include potato croquettes with scamorza cheese, baccala mantecato on crispy polenta and cheesy zucchini flowers. And while the jury remains out on whether this Coorparoo spot is a wine bar with enough food for a full feed or a casual restaurant with a really good drinks list, it’s earnt a spot on this list.

Pitsinee Saengin and Kantima Pachnoi (who between them have worked at Hellenika, The Calile and Short Grain) bring punchy southern Thai cuisine to the inner west. The menu draws inspiration from Pachnoi’s upbringing in the southern Thai province of Songkhla and her time in Phuket. She’s using her grandmother’s curry paste recipe to spice up moo hong (Phuket-style soy-braised pork belly), Asian herb fritters with fermented chilli and cashews, and a yellow curry of barramundi with betel leaves. There are also slow-cooked dishes like lemongrass and tamarind beef ribs, and a beef-cheek massaman, alongside classics like basil and chilli stir-fry, pad thai, and chicken green curry.

Chef-sommelier co-owners Lachlan Matheson and Phil Poussart have opened a cosy and considered diner in the spot that housed Matheson’s alma mater Pasta Club. The menu is packed with honest produce-led cooking with starters including duck liver parfait with Riser sourdough and a cold salad of squid, fennel, citrus and chicory; and mains of comforting vegetable pot pie with caramelised onion and gruyere, and fan-favourite sweet corn agnolotti. The drinks list includes excellent (and stiff) cocktails named after obscure guitar tracks, but as good as the mixed drinks are, you come to Gum Bistro to drink wine and the list, courtesy of co-owner and sommelier Phil Poussart (ex-Pilloni, Essa and Hobart’s Fico), is phenomenal.

At Longwang, head chef Jason Margaritas (ex-Spice Temple, Donna Chang and Same Same) serves his own take on pan-Asian cooking inspired by his East Timorese heritage and his love of Chinese and Cantonese cooking. The menu includes everything from curries and stir-fries to Queensland mud crabs, Tasmanian rock lobsters and South Australian pippies cooked to order and served by weight with a choice of sauces and sides. There are also a series of banquets including a $58 banquet of crispy chicken bao, calamari with tom yum, kingfish curry, a Wagyu fillet stir-fry, and a creamy mango pudding topped with granita and coconut sorbet.

Brothers Cameron and Jordan Votan are responsible for turning East Street into the heaving dining precinct we know it as today with their venues Happy Boy and Snack Man, plus pop-up concepts like Kid Curry, Nice Thai and Mini, which is now home to permanent French eatery Petite. The corner spot includes 75 seats on the ground level and another 40 on the mezzanine. The menu, from chef Aubrey Courtel (who also helmed Mini), is a concise one-pager with around 20 dishes, each paired with one of 20 French wines by the glass. You might match a glass of Jura savagnin with a steak tartare, topped with grated confit egg yolk and a side of pommes gaufrettes. Or an Alsatian pinot blanc with onion tarte tartin and crème fraîche. You’ll also find dishes of goat’s cheese croquettes with thyme and honey; pan-fried fish in beurre blanc; confit duck; and Wagyu bavette with Cafe de Paris butter and fries. The menu’s highlight is its soufflés: you can start your night with a twice-baked cheese or prawn bisque soufflé and then close out your meal with another, of the decadent chocolate variety.

The Rose & Crown from Alex Derrick is the cure for any homesick Brits. Derrick spent 24 years in the UK working with Capital Pubs and Greene King before founding The City Pub Group. Upon his return to Brisbane, he teamed up with another recently returned expat, Kevin Honeywood, to give Brisbane a proper British gastro pub. The menu goes long in English classics like roasts with Yorkshire puddings, porchetta, roast potatoes and thick viscous gravy, as well as Scotch eggs, ploughman’s plates, beer-battered fish’n’chips, Guinness pies (and pints) and thick Cumberland sausages. Traditional cask ales are poured at the mahogany bar.

Additional reporting by Elliot Baker and Daniel Wilson.